Aserto (Topaz) vs Permit.io
Side-by-side comparison of identity tools. Sponsored placement is disclosed where applicable.
Quick answer
Aserto (Topaz) vs Permit.io: which should you choose?
Short answer
Aserto (Topaz) vs Permit.io have overlapping use cases in identity and access management. The right pick depends on your company size, deployment model, integrations, and pricing tolerance — compare those attributes side-by-side below.
- Best for
- Aserto (Topaz): Platform or backend teams that want a self-hosted, OPA-compatible authorizer with a Zanzibar-style relationship store and are comfortable operating it without a vendor behind it. · Permit.io: Engineering teams that need to ship fine-grained authorization across their application and want both programmatic API access and a low-code interface for policy administrators to manage permissions without engineering involvement.
- When to choose
- Pick the option whose company-size fit, deployment model, and integrations most closely match your stack.
- When not to choose
- Skip a head-to-head if you haven't shortlisted a category yet — start with the IAM Stack Finder instead.
- Related tools & categories
- Aserto (Topaz)Permit.ioIAM Stack FinderBuyer resources
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Platform or backend teams that want a self-hosted, OPA-compatible authorizer with a Zanzibar-style relationship store and are comfortable operating it without a vendor behind it. | Engineering teams that need to ship fine-grained authorization across their application and want both programmatic API access and a low-code interface for policy administrators to manage permissions without engineering involvement. |
| Short description | Aserto built a fine-grained authorization platform around Topaz, an Apache 2.0 authorizer that pairs Open Policy Agent (Rego) with a Zanzibar-style relationship directory. The hosted Aserto Control Plane shut down on 31 May 2025; Topaz continues as a self-hosted open-source project. | Permit.io provides authorization-as-a-service with a low-code policy management interface, RBAC/ABAC/ReBAC policy support, and a managed policy decision layer — enabling teams to ship fine-grained access control without building it from scratch. |
| Company size | startup, smb, mid_market | Startup, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Deployment | self_hosted | SaaS / Cloud-hosted |
| Source | open source | Open core (built on OPA/OPAL open standards; management layer is proprietary) |
| Pricing model | free (open source); hosted plans discontinued | MAU and evaluation-based; free tier available |
| Integrations | Go, Node.js, JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Ruby, gRPC | OPA, OPAL, Python, Node.js, Java, Go, REST APIs |
| Categories | Authorization | Authorization |
| Claimed profile |
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